Leslie Gerhat, of Waltham, told ABC News that in July, she purchased one of her favorite flavors of Ben & Jerry's ice cream, Pistachio Pistachio. But she was disappointed because the pistachios were soggy and fell apart.

She decided to let the company know that something wasn't right with its product, and she sent an email to the company. A few weeks later, she got a coupon in the mail for a free pint of ice cream.

But seven months later, Gerhat said, she felt truly special when she got an email from Ben & Jerry's inviting her to take a tour of the company's facility in Vermont. On March 2, she and 16 other customers who had sent in complaints took a chartered bus from Boston to Vermont.

During her tour, Gerhat learned that the soggy pistachios came from a vendor that had roasted the nuts for too long. Another customer complained about dry brownies in the Half Baked flavor, and the company went to the brownie vendor and mapped out the entire production process.

The company said the outreach effort was part of a challenge issued by parent company Unilever to better engage in consumer feedback.